Come on.Stop playing pathetic games here.
Women want to have equal rights. They should be happy to have equal rights to insecurity, danger and lethal consequences. The Israelis have long had brigades of women in the armed forces and have been used in wars agaisnt the Egyptians and insurgents without any whimpering from unwanted male affectionados. It comes with the territory.
What's so wrong about that. That is what they want,too.
Why should it be any more acceptable for men to be placed in lethal positions?

socratease

That is extremely sexist Hasbeen. What 'they' wanted - you make it sound like a conspiracy. So what if some women have authority? What about men who have authority, is that a bad thing too?

What 'they' wanted was equal access to jobs. What is wrong with women working in jobs traditionally held by men and vice versa?

Suitability is the key. I must admit my gut reaction is averse to women fighting in the trenches (so to speak) but I know this is wrong - it is probably an age/generation thing but it is not about you or I think, but about who is suitable for the job.

Before women were given the right to vote there were those who doubted the wisdom of doing so ..they used the same rationalisation...it's not about giving women voting rights; it's all about the suitability of giving women who traditionally have been suitabler as seed carriers and domestics such powers. Can women vote as sensibly as men could...these were the usual outpourings. You have only to dig into the history of feminist movements to get the evidence i am alluding to.

socratease

And in Saudi Arabia, women are having to fight just to drive cars:

"Saudi women plan to take to the streets in vehicles to protest the ban on June 17th."

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/03/saudi-women-to-mrs-clinton-support-our-right-to-drive/

Australia has not fallen into the abyss since women were given (by men) the vote, the right to drive, nominal equal pay for equal work and some are capable of fighting in armed combat - not many women, but then not many men are capable of the abilities required to be a soldier either. We don't stop men from becoming nurses.

Ironic given that on issues of DV a regular group of men are arguing that women are more violent. Fine, send 'em to the battle front.

...I believe acceptance of women on the front line of combat duty does for femininity, what tattoos contribute to female beauty; nothing.

Hasbeen,

If that is indeed happening, it is normal business practise. People who have skills and talent are often kept where they are vital and needed, and those who 'manage' are the ones who are promoted out of harms way.

I must admit I only really respect managers who have at one stage performed my job and have skills at least an equal to myself. I think this is natural, but a particularly open minded boss or an easily malleable one that can be trained by me often suffices.
Managers the world over are arse-coverers and glorified messenger boys.

I take it that in the military, it would be hard to have respect for a higher rank who hasn't seen as much live action as the grunts. This is a legitimate problem and not a gender/sexist idea as pelican states.

Unless of course the women who are promoted have indeed earned their stripes as much as the men but are just more ambitious, and it's your assumptions that are sexist.